Sitterati: A Summer Job Solution App

Thank you to Sittercity for sponsoring this post. Click here to download the current beta version of Sittercity’s free Sitterati app on your iPhone and let them know what you think in the app store.

Not only does this new app take the stress out of finding a sitter for parents, it’s the perfect tool for good, reliable high school or college students, and recent grads to find and track jobs through this caregiver community.

Babysitting is no longer the teen job used just for a clothing allowance and extra cash. Many people are using it, especially in this economy, as a solid part-time career. The average hourly rate for one child in the U.S. is currently is $12.75, with some cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York paying as much as $15.00. If you’ve taken first aid courses or are experienced you can even charge a higher rate. And if the parents have three children you could be looking at a rate of $16-$20 depending on the city you live. When you look at the minimum wage of $7.25, babysitting definitely has huge benefits. But how do you book enough jobs?

Sitterati is the new app solution from Sittercity… and if you don’t know about Sittercity–this parent-sitter matchmaking site is America’s largest and most trusted online source for child care, pet care, eldercare, housesitting and more. Parents know they can trust their precious little ones to Sittercity because marquis corporate clients such as the University of California, the Department of Defense, Avon, MasterCard, and FOX Networks all use Sittercity too.

For sitters with a busy schedule, having a mobile app makes sense because you can accept and track all jobs on the go–whether they be parents taking the occasional night out or a standing gigs. For sitters all you have to do is upload your profile, let the parents you work for know you’re registered, and they can not only book you via Sitterati with a text, but they can also handily pay you with a credit card directly through the app. Just create a payment account where you can receive and track payments from the parents and the money instantly goes into your account.

Getting Started on Sitterati

It’s so easy. You can either accept an invite from the parents you work for or you can invite parents to join Sitterati using SMS/text messages. When parents post jobs, you can respond right away and the job is confirmed. They’ll let you know all the details such as date, times, rate and any other details specific to the job. What’s also great about the app is parents can share the app through Facebook and their friends will know you babysit for their kids and can book you too. This can open the door to an endless flow of potential jobs available to you. Another new feature is you can build a list of parents to organize the families you sit for. All this is done through the app conveniently right on your smartphone. Never miss a babysitting gig again.

The app just went live and the Sitterati team is looking for feedback from parents and sitters to help build it into a truly useful and beneficial app. It really is a community and just might be the perfect solution for you and a part-time job!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.